Oh Seth...

Last night we went to a movie for the first time this year. The passes were given to us by a kind person who had won them from Breakfast Television but couldn't go due to work. I put a shout out to my friends and one offered to babysit, so all of the stars aligned to make this happen. So now I'm going to a FREE movie, we have a babysitter we trust, and the movie (Neighbours) was purported to be "the funniest movie in a loooong time". I was SO excited!!

For some reason, I'm a big fan of Seth Rogen. Maybe because he's from Vancouver, maybe because he's so down to earth, maybe because he's goofy and endearing. But when I think about it, I can't actually name a single one of his movies that I thought was great, or even good. His role in 40 Year Old Virgin was my favourite! But as a lead, I don't think he can carry a movie.

Zac Effron is in this, and I've never seen him in anything so I had no idea what to expect. I didn't expect to be blown away, but I did hope to be entertained.

And I was! But only in a few guffaw-inducing memorable scenes. Overall the movie was disjointed, and I think the editors were stoned. There were scenes that left us wondering WHY they were even included in the movie, were they just filling space? Most notably, the Robert DeNiro party scene. And what was with all of those overly-repeated I Love Yous near the end?! Did they run out of lines? I can't imagine the director telling them "say it again!" Strange and irrelevant. Awkward.

Speaking of awkward, Seth's sex scenes were exactly that! Cringe-worthy and uncomfortable. Filled with too much dialogue (does he really say that stuff when he's actually having sex?? "Oh yeah, this is happening, it's happening right now, on this chair, oh yeah" Ugh! Stuff a sock in it!)

Zac Efron was a surprise to me - I had no idea he was so pretty!! And his acting was really good, for what it was. I will definitely go see another of his movies...

My favourite character was their divorced friend. He had the best lines and his comedic timing was perfect, though he ended up being sucked into the black hole of unfunniness in the end.

It had its funny moments for sure, but overall it was disappointing. It didn't live up to the hype (in my opinion) but I still love Seth. My husband said it was "Jackass good", which means it wasn't a blockbuster but it was good for the genre - a cross between Porky's, Animal House, and American Pie. But as my husband so eloquently put it, "a hot dog is still a hotdog, even if it's the best hotdog at the BBQ."

LOL!